Probate Attorney in Daly City, California

In Daly City, California, probate is the process through which a Court decides if a will is valid or not.

As part of this procedure, the Daly City, California probate court will decide the validity of the will, inventory the decedent's assets and debts, and then, lastly, distribute the estate according to the will, assuming it is deemed to be valid.

Most wills name a particular person as the executor of the estate, but sometimes they don't, or the named executor is deceased, out of the court's jurisdiction, or otherwise inadequate to serve in this capacity. In these situations, a Daly City, California probate court has to assign one.

Because the executor is responsible for truly initiating probate proceedings and seeing them to finalization, the person chosen for this role is often the one who stands to inherit the most from the will - giving them an incentive to put in the necessary time and effort.

Duties of the Executor in Daly City, California

The executor has various duties with respect to the will. First, it is his or her job to actually initiate probate proceedings, which often must be done before the will is given effect.

Additionally, it's the executor's job to notify all concerned parties that the person who made the will has died. "Interested parties" are usually people who are named in the will, or who would inherit the estate if the decedent had died without a will.

There may be numerous people who are entitled to take under a testator's will, with which the testator may have fallout out of touch years ago. This can make them challenging to find, but they need to be found, nonetheless. To that end, the executor is obliged to make a list of everyone who might be able to inherit, whether they're named in the will, or closely related to the testator. Furthermore, they have to make known all of the decedent's major assets and debts.

Because the executor serves as the living personification of the decedent's estate, they are solely accountable for proving the validity of the will. This is a lot of work, but because executors are typically chosen based on how much they stand to inherit from a will once its validity is confirmed, they have a good incentive to see the process to finalization.

How Can A Daly City, California Lawyer Help?

Because this can be (though isn't always) a fairly complicated process, it's a good idea to get a reliable probate lawyer in Daly City, California, especially if you find yourself being the executor of an estate, and aren't sure how to proceed.

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Life in Daly City

Daly City, California is a city in San Mateo County. It has a population of about 102,000 people.

Daly City was founded in the 1770s, when the Spanish first settled California. Later, when Mexico gained independence from Spain, the area now known as Daly City was part of Mexico, until Mexico lost California in the Mexican-American War. It got its current name in the late 1800s, and is named after John Daly, a prominent local businessman and landowner. Daly City, California is known for being one of the only cities in the United States in which a majority of the population is Asian-American.

The economy of Daly City, California is largely based on healthcare, public education, retail, and services. Most of the professionals who live in Daly City, such as lawyers, work in the larger cities nearby. However, there are still many lawyers who practice within Daly City, and specialize in serving Daly City residents.

If you live in Daly City and are in need of legal services, it's almost certain that there is a Daly City, California attorney who can help.